Trifecta
by Caithyra
Summary: Sakura has pains not even the most advanced medical techniques can help her with, and it's all Hyuuga and Uchiha's faults. A series of short stories detailing the life of Konoha's genius squad. Non-massacre AU. Itachi/Sakura/Neji.
1. Playing for Favourites

**Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me. This applies for every chapter of this story.**

**IMPORTANT NOTE!!!**

_**The Uchiha Massacre never happened in this time-line.**_

**Trifecta**

_001._

Playing for Favourites

Haruno Sakura loved her job! Sure, it meant long hours and sometimes reached the levels of grotesquely disgusting, but it also meant that she could boss around people _for their own good_.

People like her teammates.

"If you don't stay put, I'll _make_ you stay put." Sakura eyed them, with Kakashi already outside the window, Naruto halfway through, and Sasuke behind him while Sai was getting out of bed. None were in a state to put up a fight against her, even if they went four on one.

"But Sakura-chaaan!" Naruto turned on his most pleading gaze. "I promise to rest at home!"

"After you've sparred with Konohamaru and taken a detour to Ichiraku?" Sakura raised an eyebrow.

Naruto sulked.

"You know, I've read that the familiarity of one's home helps healing the sick," Sai tried.

"And you guys end up here often enough for this room to reserved for you, I think that's plenty familiar enough."

It was Kakashi's turn. "You know that you're my favourite student, right?"

"Sasuke's standing behind you." Ouch.

Sasuke's eyes darted between the two of them. "I'm your favourite teammate?"

Five minutes later, Naruto was glaring at Sasuke, not that Sasuke would notice through the shadow the iron cabinets, which had been placed in front of the windows, cast. "You just had to mention that old crush, didn't you?"

Kakashi sighed and wished he could scratch his itchy shoulder, but the leather tying him to the bed made it impossible.

Meanwhile Sakura was regrouping herself inside her office, knowing that she would need to go back and release the restraints within ten minutes, per hospital regulations. Sometimes she just hated her job.

~*~

Tsunade hated her job! It involved paperwork, sobriety and soothing the egos of people who needed said egos deflated.

Yes, Tsunade was currently sitting with one fossil at each side and two antiquated clan heads on the other side of the table.

"-but as the oldest clan in Konoha, we have rights to this property." Hyuuga Hiashi did not raise his voice, however there was certainly a commanding tone in it.

"It lays within the borders of the Uchiha compound," Uchiha Fugaku countered smoothly.

Tsunade heard a snore to her right, and as she guessed, the two Elders of Konoha had fallen fast asleep. How she wished she could join them!

"It also lays within the Hyuuga compound," Hiashi reminded him.

"Only one-third does," Fugaku disagreed.

"Half." Hiashi glared at him.

Oh for! They were just like a bunch of kids arguing about who got the largest slice of cake! Tsunade felt her eyebrow twitch. "So far neither of you have shown me any evidence of ownership."

They only looked at her, non-verbally saying that puny things like evidences were beneath the high and mighty clans. Tsunade sighed and massaged her forehead as they continued their inane bickering.

The property in question was nice, small house that had once served as a sentinel's lodgings during the time Konoha had to make sure the Hyuuga and Uchiha clans didn't kill one another. It had been built by the clans on Nidaime's orders, by the road, between the gates of the compounds. It was a nice house with a nice garden and training grounds, even if it required some care after being abandoned for nearly thirty years, and now, apparently, it had become the excuse for yet another Uchiha-Hyuuga argument.

"Do you have something else on your mind, Hokage-sama?" Hiashi cut through her musings.

_Translation: Is there something _more important_ than _our important_ disagreement?_ Tsunade thought sourly. "As a matter of fact, yes."

Both their eyebrows shot up, and the identical expressions helped reaffirm their blood relations, even if they refused to acknowledge them.

"It's about time for my student's age group to switch teams, and I'm having a hard time to place her," Tsunade explained even though she shouldn't have. The clan heads just had that kind of effect on her.

It was Fugaku who first took the opportunity. "Actually, Itachi is having the same problems and he can't go on solo missions every time."

Hiashi saw where this was going. "I'm sure that Haruno-san will have no troubles finding a willing squad, after all, she's one of the few capable of advanced healing of the eyes and a leading toxicologist." Hah, he remembered her name, beat that Uchiha!

Tsunade's own eyebrows rose as the clan heads took turns praising Sakura's abilities and how she, with the exception of Tsunade and Shizune, of course, was one of the few medics they trusted to treat the Sharingan and Byakugan. In fact, it seemed like they were trying to get to Tsunade through her student. Well, it certainly lightened her mood as she listened in amusement as the clan heads' voices started to take a more desperate tone, as they were running out of praises and really didn't know Sakura all that well. Suddenly an idea flashed into her mind, and she smirked evilly.

"And her hair is the most unusual-"

"Okay, fine." Tsunade interrupted. "Sakura will be on the same squad as Neji and Itachi, happy now?"

They made sounds of agreement.

_Three..._

_Two..._

_One_, Tsunade counted down gleefully as they suddenly realised what they agreed to. Looks of horror flashed across their faces as they quickly glanced at one another. The Hyuuga genius on the same squad as the Uchiha genius? Preposterous!

"And Konoha will confiscate the property and sell it, dividing the profits equally between the clans." She held up a hand to ward off any protests. "And with the condition and location of the property-" between two feuding clans, "-I would estimate a value of a hundred thousand, no more."

They looked as if she had kicked the puppy and thrown it at their faces. Sometimes Tsunade loved her job.

**End.**


	2. Dream Team

**Trifecta**

_002._

Dream Team

"What?" Sakura brushed her hair from her ear, confident that she heard wrong.

"You are hereby on the same squad as Hyuuga Neji and Uchiha Itachi," Tsunade slowly repeated.

"Oh." Sakura blinked. "Why?"

"Because I said so."

"But Itachi's ANBU, Neji's a jounin and I'm a chuunin medic!" Sakura felt compelled to point out.

"I'm aware."

"Then you know that we'll never work well together, right?"

Tsunade frowned at her. "The ultimate offence, the ultimate defence and the ultimate regeneration techniques fit rather well, wouldn't you say?"

"Well, in theory, yes," Sakura grudgingly agreed.

~*~

Tsunade repeated her statement, yet still didn't get any answer from the Uchiha across from her. She glared at him.

Finally he conceded to speak. "If that's the orders."

"No protests?" Tsunade arched an eyebrow.

"It is the job of a ninja to follow the orders of their kage," Itachi simply answered. Tsunade mentally cheered, an Uchiha with common sense! Those were rarer than pink, flying elephants. "Even if those orders are of debatable judgement."

Then again.

~*~

"Any questions? Protests?" Tsunade eyed the Hyuuga with a warning light in her eyes.

He shifted.

"Because if you think you're getting out of this, well sucks to be you, because you wont!" Tsunade's fingers tightened around the unopened bottle, if she just got this meeting over with, she was free!

He opened his mouth, but was cut off.

"Oh no, don't even try! You are on the same squad as Sakura and Itachi and that's _final!_" She punctuated her statement by ripping off the cork and taking a swig.

Neji was still staring at her.

"Well, whatcha waiting for? This meeting is over, scram!"

~*~

Nursing a hangover, a grumpy Tsunade had yet another brilliant idea to get back at the brats and the clans. With a smirk, she looked through the forms of the new squads before she found the right one. With an evil smirk, she wrote _Haruno Sakura_ in one of the fields.

Now, how about that mentor? Well, there's always...

**End.**


	3. The ExSquad

**Trifecta**

_003._

The Ex-Squad

Sakura sat on the balustrade of the bridge, wondering what she'd done to make her shishou punish her so horribly.

Sure, Uchiha Itachi and Hyuuga Neji were famous for their prowess as ninja, but they were also infamous for being emotional ice-cubes with the social skills of a hermit lump of coal. And she had on good authority that they didn't like one another, which meant that she would have to act the part of an ambassador, most likely.

"SAKURA-CHAN!" Naruto's distressed voice effectively cut through her gloomy musings. Sakura jumped as she felt him run into her. "YOU CAN'T DO IT!"

"Do what?" Sakura blinked at his flustered face as Sasuke hurried to catch up.

"Switch teams, of course!" Naruto ranted.

"Why?" was all Sakura could think of to say.

"Why? Why?! It's Hyuuga Neji the frosty snowman and Uchiha Itachi-"

"-is Satan incarnate," Sasuke supplied as he stopped beside them.

"-Yes, thank you. _And what the hell are you thinking?!_" Naruto shook her.

"Na-Naruto-"

"Don't you realise that you might as well cover yourself in barbecue sauce and enter a wolves' den, do you?!"

"Idiot! You're hurting her!" Sasuke put a hand on Naruto's arm, stopping his shaking of the poor girl.

Naruto let her go as if burned, and she dizzily sank to the ground. "Sorry, Sakura-chan! I didn't mean to."

Sakura put a hand to her hand, soothing chakra removing the ache the intense shaking had given her. "Well, you took it rather well, wouldn't you think?"

Naruto gave her a sheepish smile. "Sorry. We'll go to Ichiraku for dinner, my treat!"

"You don't have any money." Sasuke smacked the back of Naruto's head lightly.

"Well I don't see you come up with any bright ideas!" Naruto grumbled, rubbing his head with one hand and helping Sakura up with the other.

"Your bright ideas extends only to mooching off her because you always lose your money on stupid bets," Sasuke snapped back.

"Why you-"

Sakura sighed as they promptly started their sparring. Who was she kidding? It wasn't as if her regular teammates weren't at each others' throats.

"Hag, is it true that you're leaving our team?" Sakura shrieked and jumped away from Sai, who had appeared at her side without her noticing.

"Don't scare me like that!" She clutched a hand to her chest, trying to prevent her heart from jumping out and taking an impromptu holiday. "And yes. In fact, all the teams in our age group are being shuffled."

"Why?" Sai stared blankly at her.

"Well, you know how teams are formed when we become genin?" He shook his head and she sighed (didn't they teach Root _anything?_) before explaining. "Well, the teams are generally created to make it easier for our teachers to teach us. Like how Gai-sensei got Lee, Neji and Tenten, all who specialise in taijutsu to some effect. Kurenai-sensei is an expert tracker, so she got Hinata, Kiba and Shino. Asuma-sensei often worked with Ino's, Shikamaru's and Chouji's fathers, so he knew how to handle them, and our team is what got leftover. With me so far?"

"You were the leftovers, sure." He shrugged, giving her a false smile.

She rolled her eyes and continued. "Either way, it doesn't make for balanced teams, so when we've reached a certain level of experience, we are put into new teams that's a bit more rounded. It is also around this stage that we get experience with leading teams and all those things fully fledged ninja does, usually with an older mentor to make sure we don't screw up horribly."

"Uchiha Itachi and Hyuuga Neji aren't in your age group," Sai pointed out.

"Well, Team Gai was the only team of that year who didn't quit or got killed, don't ask me about Itachi." Sakura shrugged. "Personally, I suspect shishou got pissed at the clan heads during their last meeting. Afterwards she got so drunk she nearly issued an order to kill 'all stuck-up aristocrats with sticks so far up their asses their precious eyes has grown into them' or something of that effect."

"Still, _why you_?" Sai wanted to know. "Why didn't Neji or Itachi protest? Or the clan heads?"

"Is it really so unbelievable that my talents are in demand?" Sakura wasn't sure she liked his tone. It didn't help that she was wondering the same as well.

"What talents?" Sai meaningfully cast a glance towards Sakura's chest.

_That's it_. Sakura growled a warning, and had Sai been inclined to, it would have been enough for him to get to safety, but apparently he was curious as to just how much her strength had grown since last time.

"Yo-Oufph!" Kakashi had been unfortunate to teleport straight into Sai's new flight-path, and they didn't stop there.

No, the bickering and screaming duo who were trading blows behind them were also in the way.

Sakura looked at the pile of Team Kakashi with grim satisfaction, lowering her fist. If Neji and Itachi would be difficult, well then, bring it on! _"Shannaro!"_ Her inner self cried out in agreement.

**End.**


	4. Morning Routines

**Trifecta**

_004._

Morning Routines

Sakura loved sleeping. She really, really did. She hadn't always been this fond of sleeping, in fact, there was a time when she thought it a waste of time, but after working at the hospital, she found out just how valuable it was.

Well, you never missed it until you lost it. Lots of it.

Hence, she slept a bit deeper than was strictly recommended for a ninja.

Which was why, in pure surprise and reflexes she punched the person who was trying to wake her. In her bedroom. In her apartment. Which she _didn't_ share with anyone else.

Breathing heavily and hoping to calm her beating heart (what was it with people trying to give her an heart attack?!), she stared unseeingly forward, halfway out of bed and arm still in punching position.

"Ow, what was that for, Sakura-chan?" came the intruder's voice from a Naruto-shaped hole in the wall.

"Naruto?" Sakura blinked, her vision suddenly coming back from its panicked holiday.

Naruto's dandelion head cautiously appeared in the hole. "You're not gonna hit me again?"

Sakura frowned. "No. But you should know better than to surprise a ninja."

"Heh, I guess so." Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "By the way, you're free for breakfast?"

"Yes," Sakura answered.

"Well, since this is our last day, or morning, really, as Team Kakashi, I thought that we all should have breakfast together!"

Sakura glanced at the clock. Seven and ten. "Have you spoken to Sasuke and Sai?"

Naruto frowned. "No."

"Then they probably have already eaten breakfast. Good night." Sakura crawled back into bed. She had to stay late yesterday, and she really loved sleeping.

"Hey!"

~*~

Neji was an early bird, but even he drew the line at waking at three-thirty in the morning to run one hundred laps around the village as a sort of goodbye ceremony with his team. Still didn't mean that he could get out of it. After ten minutes of Lee and Gai-sensei's "whispering" the plan to him, Hiashi-sama practically ordered him out of the house so the rest of the clan could sleep.

And now he was jogging beside Tenten (Lee and Gai decided on a race, leaving them behind in a cloud of dust), who could barely keep awake through her yawns.

Neji automatically scanned the premises and soon found a bench by one of the gates of the village. "Lets rest for a bit. They wont notice us missing for a while anyway."

Tenten gave him a blurry smile before yawning again.

They walked the last bit, and Tenten swallowed another yawn. "What do you think?"

"About what?" Neji asked as he sat down.

"About your new team?"

Neji's face became a carefully schooled neutral expression. "Itachi is an accomplished ninja and the heir to the Uchiha clan. Sakura is the apprentice of Hokage-sama."

Tenten wryly noted his careful neutrality with some amusement. He disliked Itachi and didn't think much of Sakura, however... "Sakura is an accomplished medic."

"As I've heard."

"Medics of her level only show up once every few generations. They are sought after. So's Tsunade-sama's teachings."

Neji arched an eyebrow, unsure where she was going with this.

"Even though she's become stronger, she's currently a very attractive target for Konoha's enemies." Tenten then looked him square in the face. "I want you to promise me that you'll do everything in your power to protect her."

"Why?" As far as Neji knew, Tenten wasn't particularly close to Sakura. In fact, she had been jealous when Tsunade picked Sakura as an apprentice.

"It's you duty to the village and," Tenten's eyes dropped, "Lee wouldn't handle it very well if something happened to her."

It suddenly occurred to Neji just how many things Sakura had that Tenten wanted. Tsunade, Lee and now Neji would become Sakura's teammate.

His neutral façade must've cracked, because Tenten could read his thoughts perfectly.

"I'm not saying this out of a sense of martyrdom." Tenten looked up, at him, and her eyes were determined. "Sakura was suited to be Tsunade's apprentice, I was not. Sakura also had the guts to demand Tsunade-sama to teach her, I did not. That is not Sakura's fault. Neither can she control Lee's feelings, and she _has_ turned him down several times, so it is not her fault either. Nor is it her decision to switch teams." Tenten's face hardened. "I might not be able to be her friend as long as I am like this, but I don't dislike her. Even more, I want her to be safe."

"Why?" To Neji, Tenten had stopped making sense. Maybe it was lack of sleep.

"Don't you feel it?" Tenten asked, almost amused. "How we all have forged bonds through the years? I would miss her if she was gone. All my friends would miss her. And I might want to become her friend later."

Bonds. Neji loathed to admit it, but Team Gai and the Rookie Nine had forged bonds. Strong bonds. It wasn't very apparent, and some of them hardly knew one another more than as acquaintances, but in a group, there's chemistry and dynamic, and if your removed one element, all the others changed.

Thinking of Sai and Itachi, Neji realised that if you added elements, the group would change as well.

~*~

Itachi's hair was still slightly damp from his shower as he sat down for breakfast. He took note of the glare that Sasuke sent him. Whatever happened to those adoring, innocent days? Oh yeah, Itachi might have made Sasuke use his teddy bear for Katon practice. Or was it about the time when Itachi pretended that the tooth fairy disliked Sasuke's teeth and therefore had left a lump of coal, instead of a coin. Or the time when... Okay, so maybe Sasuke had more than a few thousand reasons to hate Itachi's guts.

Itachi then looked at his plate, and mentally recoiled in horror. Mikoto was sick, and therefore Fugaku had... Itachi wouldn't be blasphemous enough to call it _cooking_, er, Fugaku had taken it upon himself to prepare morning nourishments –scratch that, what the hell would be nourishing about a unidentifiable, indescribable pile of sludge –and had Fugaku just invented a new colour? Itachi had surely not seen anything like this shade between puce purple and radioactive green before. The smell was also sickly sweet and no help in trying to identify the ingredients and –oh, Hokage, _did it just twitch?!_

"Aniki." Itachi looked up, interested. Sasuke had almost exclusively stopped to call him that, unless on formal occasions and when he wanted something.

While Itachi was willing to admit that eating their father's breakfast might've been classified as ritual suicide, he didn't think it was formal enough for Sasuke.

"We will be divided into our new teams today," Sasuke started, and Itachi nodded absentmindedly. "And Sakura is in your team."

"Yes." Itachi wondered where Sasuke was going with this.

"I want you to give your word that you'll protect her."

Itachi was surprised. "I was under the impression that she could protect herself."

Sasuke looked uncomfortable, but he didn't look away when Itachi locked eyes with his. "She can. To a certain extent. However, you are well-known to leave your teammates behind to die or be captured."

"Saving them would have compromised the missions." Itachi shrugged and wondered if the potted palm-tree would die and reveal that he had buried the _breakfast_ in it. "As _Kakashi's_ student, you should know a thing or two about this more than anyone else."

"_Aniki_." Sasuke's frustration was clear in his voice, but Itachi caught something else. Fear.

Itachi only had three people close to him. His mother, his brother and Uchiha Shisui. In that order. He wasn't alive when his mother was on active duty, and Sasuke refused to die no matter what, and Shisui was only second to Itachi himself in skills. He never had to worry about the people around himself dying.

But Sasuke, who had bonded with his team, and even people outside of it, had many people who could die and leave him.

It disturbed Itachi, because he could very well see a distraught Sasuke, worrying about a friend's safety or even mourning their death, be killed. And the thought did not sit well him. "Fine. I give you my word. I'll make sure Sakura returns alive."

Sasuke seemed to relax, while Itachi tried not to think about what he just promised.

**End.**


	5. In Which Things Get Interesting

**Trifecta**

_005._

In Which Things Get Interesting

When Sakura arrived at Konoha headquarters she was surprised to see Shion there as well. Shion was a former client, with the ability to see the future, who had come to Konoha to become a ninja. As far as Sakura could remember, she should've just graduated to genin, but if she was here, it meant that she passed her first chuunin exams.

Who could have imagined little Miss Independent to be such a team-player?

"Sakura-chan!" Shion greeted her and Sakura was pulled out from her musings.

"Shion-chan, what are you doing here?" Sakura asked.

"Hokage-sama said that there was uneven teams, so I was chosen to come and even the numbers," Shion answered. Of course, with Sai and Itachi, there would need to be a third person.

They didn't have time for more reminiscing as the rest started to filter inside the room, to Sakura's even greater surprise, Shiranui Genma and Mitarashi Anko also appeared, just as Tsunade entered the room.

"Right, lets get this started," she said. "Everyone, get into the new teams and I'll give you your mentor and appoint a team leader."

Sakura tried to distract herself from the intimidating auras beside her by observing the other teams. Sasuke ended up with Kiba and Chouji, which was good as neither of those two would let his occasional antisocial spells deter them. Sai ended up with Shikamaru and Lee, and he smiled falsely as Lee greeted them with enthusiasm while Shikamaru looked as if he wanted to leave. Ino, together with Tenten, tried not to show her slight fear of bugs while simultaneously not separating themselves from Shino. Last, Naruto looked extremely confused when Hinata suddenly became depressed while Shion latched onto his arm.

Sakura foresaw trouble, but then again, and she chanced a glance at her stoic companions, she weren't in a position to judge other teams.

"Good," Tsunade cut through their antics. She then gestured towards the older ninja, which included Anko, Genma, Gai, Kakashi and Asuma. "Because we have an extra team, and because Kurenai is on maternity leave, Anko and Genma kindly volunteered as mentors."

Genma mumbled something about losing a bet while Anko waved cheerfully.

Tsunade then turned back to the students. "And because we shouldn't draw this out any longer, I will now announce the teams. Team Wind is Naruto, Shion and Hinata, with Asuma as mentor and Naruto as team leader."

This caused a commotion as most had expected the mentors to take on the roles as leaders. Sakura could see Neji and Itachi size each other up in the corners of her eyes. Crap.

"Silence!" Tsunade's bellow soon restored order as Asuma joined Team Wind. "Right. Team Fire is Sasuke, Kiba and Chouji, with Anko as mentor and Chouji as leader."

No one dared to speak, as Tsunade seemed to dare anyone to give her an excuse to throw her heavy desk lamp at them. Anko skipped over to her new team and promptly gave them a big hug, proclaiming that she'll take good care of them. Hadn't Sakura been so wary of Tsunade's temper, she would have laughed at Sasuke's expression, she looked down on her toes and bit her lip. _Must. Not. Laugh_.

Tsunade continued. "Team Earth is Shikamaru, Sai and Lee, with Gai as mentor and Lee as team leader."

Okay, so now people started to mumble as Gai and Lee had their tearful reunion. Why not use Shikamaru and Sai as leaders? They were both adept and Lee had never been team leader before. Come to think of it...

"Team Lightning is Ino, Shino and Tenten, with Kakashi as mentor and Ino as team leader."

...neither had Ino, Naruto and Chouji.

"Team Water is Itachi, Sakura and Neji, with Genma as mentor and Sakura as team leader."

Or Sakura herself.

Sakura looked up, only to see her two new teammates sizing her up, while Genma had swallowed his senbon and was clutching his throat. Apparently he was as surprised as she was.

**End.**


	6. Mentoring Blues

**Trifecta**

_006._

Mentoring Blues

"HehehehahahHAHAHAHA!" Raidou leaned against the bar counter, trying to keep standing despite the violent shaking of his body. He only half-succeeded.

His long-time best friend gave him a withering glare. "It's not funny."

"It is," Raidou disagreed through gasps and gulps of air.

"Stop laughing!" Genma smacked his back, but it didn't help much.

Still, Raidou managed to limit his amusement to an infuriating grin. "What was it that you said? 'The poor sucker who ends up with both Hyuuga and Uchiha would go suicidal in a week' was it?"

Genma simply glared at him and downed whatever it was in his glass (their favourite hangout might serve mystery liquids that made you see pink elephants, but it was a nice place to get away from the young ninja generation).

"You should've known better than to bet with the gophers," Raidou admonished him, still with a grin.

"_We're not gophers!_" came Kotetsu's voice from the other side of the bar.

Genma grumbled, mentally screaming at himself for the _stupid_ bet that he so _stupidly_ entered. Originally either Kotetsu or Izumo would have been in his place, but the two _gophers_ had of course found out their team, and had promptly roped the closed sucker into a bet. The loser got a brand new spanking team.

Desperately, Genma grasped Raidou's hands.

"You _do_ know that I'm incapable of having your children, right?" Raidou arched an eyebrow, referring to a certain disastrous pick-up line that usually came after the hand-clasping. Somehow, some monk had taught Genma his favourite pick-up. Success definitely _not_ guaranteed.

Genma dropped Raidou's hands. "I didn't mean it like that!"

"Then what did you mean?" Raidou asked, contemplating if he would dare to order a 'Living Leftovers Surprise'.

"Switch with me!"

"No."

"You're an awful friend," Genma grumbled.

"And you're worse, trying to hoist over your responsibilities on me." Raidou then started chuckling again.

"What?"

"Sakura-chan and Itachi-kun are both connected to Sasuke-kun, right?"

"Right." Genma didn't see where Raidou was going with this.

"And Sasuke-kun's mentor is Anko, right?"

Raidou might as well have punched Genma in the gut, as Genma's eyes widened. Anko. Anko as in the-nightmare-woman-who-made-Genma-refrain-from-dating-for-half-a-year-after-she-dumped-him-Anko. Genma nearly swallowed his senbon again.

He then glared at Raidou, who doubled over again in laughter. "I _hate_ you."

**End.**


	7. Getting There

**Trifecta**

_007._

Getting There

Sakura sighed in frustration as she balanced the groceries on one hip, while trying to dig her house key out from her pocket. After Tsunade was done with the team ups, Sakura had promptly stomped up to Genma, and with Tsunade's help, locked him against Tsunade's desk. Then, while Sakura was busy fishing up Genma's senbon, Sakura had quizzed Tsunade on her general well-being, you know, had she been drinking excessively (for her), or made any stupid bets lately (and when talking to the Legendary Sucker, _any_ bet is stupid), or if she felt any dizzy and/or had any signs of fever, or if she was just feeling her age.

The last one, as soon as Sakura got out the senbon, sent everyone but Tsunade out the door, followed by a chair or two.

Fortunately, Sakura didn't have to face her new team alone yet, as Genma had to go to the hospital for a check up and used his mentor privileges to forbid them from meeting until the next day (some irrational fear of them ganging up on him, or something).

To Sakura, it was just as well, as she had to take time to get into her leader role. It was one thing to boss around her friends and family for their own good as a medic. It was an entirely different thing to boss around Neji and Itachi as their leader.

With a frustrated growl, she leaned against the door and turned her pockets inside-out. Where was that key?!

Her elbow caught the handle and suddenly she found herself hearing the sound of eggs being crushed, while staring up at the ceiling inside her house. Turning, she could see the key glimmer at her from the hat-rack above her head.

~*~

"I heard that you will train with Sakura today." Itachi turned his head from where he was making breakfast, as he for once admitted defeat to their father's idea of... _cuisine_.

"Yes?" He was admittedly curious as to where Sasuke was going with this.

Sasuke shifted, once more disinclined to ask Itachi a favour, even more so when Itachi was in a position to poison his pancakes (and was Sasuke _ever_ careful with his pancakes, as his father and mother _never_ made anything but traditional breakfasts). "Don't be too hard on her."

Itachi arched an eyebrow. "She can take care of herself."

Sasuke looked as if he was about to protest, but one glance at the pancakes made him shut up.

"Or does she?" Itachi mused aloud. "You know, with the many times your team left her behind without notice and how you're insisting on me coddling her, I do wonder."

Sasuke didn't answer. The spatula hovered threateningly over the pancakes.

~*~

Neji despised weaknesses, and he made no secret of it. However, when he for the umpteenth time bit his tongue and reassured a main household member that no, he wouldn't skewer Hokage's apprentice on a pole, cover her in teriyaki sauce and feed her to a giant toad, he had to wonder what the hell he was doing.

She was Hokage's apprentice, that alone should tell them that she could take care of herself. Or not, as the only mission he shared with her, she ended up getting poisoned and he had to rescue her from falling and bashing her head in.

Which was the crux of the situation. Neji had seen her on the first Chuunin Exams. She had _not_ shown anything except the most elementary ninja skills, and he missed the exams she passed (by virtue of training to become a jounin). The only reason why he didn't outright demand another team was one, because Hiashi-sama would be very, very cross for making him look bad, and two, because Sakura, if not a fighter, was the highly capable medic who once saved his eyes.

Like many other missions, the enemy ninja targeted his eyes, unlike many other missions, said ninja spat acids and venoms. If Neji's team hadn't ran across Sakura's on their way home, he wouldn't merely been blinded, but also have two empty sockets instead of eyes. So if nothing else, for her medical skills, he would compensate for her lack of fighting abilities.

~*~

Genma mentally winced as the sun beat down on his hungover head. Wasn't this the situation he always teased Kakashi about? To be hungover and then go and train with a bunch of brats. Granted, Kakashi, from the sounds of his students screaming at him at ungodly hours in the morning under Genma's window, always showed up at least three hours late.

Genma would too, if he hadn't tasted Sakura's fist one too many times. Like the time when he accidentally got between her and her opponent during her Chuunin Exams. Turns out that clocking a special jounin automatically elevated her to chuunin status. And made Genma a laughingstock for a week ("How in the world did you manage to step between _that_?!" Raidou had asked between guffaws, the terrible friend that he is).

Well, somehow Genma managed to get out of bed and drag himself to the training grounds at the ungodly hour of one in the afternoon, only to observe the phenomenon of two people not being the same group while simultaneously looking like they were. _Freakin' clan politics!_

Sakura only arrived a minute after Genma, and with a sunny smile, greeted them. "Good day, everyone!"

Genma grunted. Neji nodded. Itachi looked at her expectantly.

"Right." She didn't dare to drop her sunny disposition, lest she become discouraged. "Well, fortunately, I have just the training to fix this little team problem!"

She then whipped out Kakashi's oh so irritating, goddamned stupid bells, which Genma knew Kakashi only created to keep himself from getting a genin team, never actually expecting someone to pass the test... And why was everyone staring at him? Oh great, he said all that aloud, didn't he?

"Okay," Sakura recovered first from Genma's outburst, "let me explain the rules."

**End.**


	8. Jingle Bell Rock

**Trifecta**

_008._

Jingle Bell Rock

Sakura was most definitely _not_ going to challenge the clan geniuses by herself, hence, she formed a team with Genma, only to realise that Genma was nursing a big hangover.

"I should be evil and punch your lights out," she said as her fingers, glowing green with chakra, massaged Genma's scalp.

"Ah, there!" Genma sighed in contentment as she found the source of his headache.

As she worked, she didn't notice how intently he observed her.

Genma, for his part, had many questions and very little answers about his new team leader. If you didn't count Raidou (and sometimes, Genma didn't), Kakashi was by far one of Genma's closest friends. Which was why it was so strange Genma knew so little about Sakura.

Oh, he knew the bare basics; Kakashi's student, Hokage's apprentice, medic, genjutsu type, former teammate of Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto, both which Genma knew more about.

He also knew that Sakura, when in the Wave Country, learned to use her chakra to climb trees and walls on the first try. Actually, it had been Kakashi (in his own way) who had boasted about it (surreptitiously not mentioning Naruto or Sasuke). It had been Genma's first clue that his friend might enjoy teaching after all.

After Hayate was killed, Genma took his place as a proctor during the Chuunin Exams. It also meant that he was roped into helping Ibiki go through the examination papers. Sakura had stood out to Ibiki because she didn't even try to cheat, but she stood out to Genma, Anko, Ibiki, Izumo and Kotetsu when they looked through her answers and found them all to be correct despite not cheating. It had been enough to make them pull out her data and confirm her as a genjutsu type, a type known to easily memorise the most strangest trivia.

To Genma, Sakura was Kakashi's perfect student; ability to memorise, control chakra, learn, remember and genjutsu type.

Ironically, Kakashi focused more on Sasuke and Naruto. For example, between the second and third events in the Chuunin Exams, Kakashi had made sure to get another teacher for Naruto while he focused on Sasuke. By comparison no other student from the four teams currently in the exams could be found wandering the streets, not knowing what to do.

Still, she had been one of the few ninja to dispel the genjutsu Sound put on the stadium. And later, she went together with Tenten, Hinata, Ino and Kurenai to fetch Tsunade to help put the village back on its feet. Unfortunately, when she returned, Sasuke had left for Orochimaru, and Naruto left for Jiraiya.

Then it became obvious just how little Kakashi considered Sakura. Instead of focusing his attentions on his one remaining student, he launched himself into solo missions, and Sakura was left to drift in confusion until she demanded that Tsunade would teach her.

Long story short after that: Sakura made chuunin, reunited with Naruto, formed a new team with Sai and Yamato, and they all set out after Sasuke, who by then realised his mistake. They ran into an old acquaintance of Orochimaru, a person he did immortality research with, also known as Sasori from Suna. Sakura was credited for defeating him while the rest of her team fought his puppets, a big accomplishment for a chuunin, considering that Sasori was an S-Class ninja in the bingo book.

After that, with the information Sakura got from Sasori, they tracked down Orochimaru and managed to free Sasuke and contain the seal Orochimaru had put on him.

And Team Kakashi was reunited, except that they had a bad habit to leave Sakura in the village "for her own good", like she was the same genin she was years ago.

To Genma, Kakashi's actions were incomprehensible. Once Sakura managed to take down Sasori (granted, he was distracted by using his puppets against her teammates), she should have proven herself to have a place in the ninja world. Hell, once she stood up to the Slug Queen and made demands she more than enough earned it. Yet her teammates were misguided by some need to protect her, even at the cost of her own growth.

"We have at least one advantage," Sakura's voice cut through his thoughts as she finished healing him.

"Huh?" Genma blinked, a bit unsure what Sakura was saying.

"With the test," Sakura impatiently explained. "Except Neji, in the middle of a few free-for-all battles, they have never seen me fight. All one of them knows is that one, I can pack a punch now and then, but not how I do it, or my success rate, and two, that I'm an expert at poisons. The only missions I've shared with them is as a medic, so they tried to keep me out of the fighting."

"So, they don't know _exactly_ how strong you are?" Genma let the implications hung in mid-air. Genma had seen her on missions, hell, he'd led some of them. She was a professional and tried to conserve her chakra for healing, which meant that she only very rarely used more than a minuscule fraction of her chakra in each punch. At most, Neji would believe her to be stronger than average and adept at finding openings, but he might just as well believe her to be lucky with an occasional burst of strength, and that any trees she felled were old and decayed on the inside.

"They also don't know that I'm a genjutsu type," Sakura supplied. "Or that I use water and earth elements."

Genma felt slightly more positive towards fighting the clan geniuses now. Itachi, who preferred genjutsu and the fire element. Neji, who preferred close combat and the air element.

"Well, then, lets get started." He grinned at her, and she smiled back.

Now, if she had only been ten years older, she would have been perfect.

~*~

It was common sense not to eat before training, so both Itachi and Neji had skipped lunch. They certainly hadn't counted on being forbidden to eat before they caught a bell. And on top of it all, Sakura had threatened to take only D- and C-rank missions if they didn't pass this test.

Neji looked at Itachi who had a younger brother who passed the test, surely he would have some idea as to what to do.

Itachi was busy berating himself for not torturing the information out of Sasuke. As far as he could catch, Sasuke passed at the last possible moment, but he refused to explain how, simply looking away and mumbling something about eating.

But didn't the food part come in _after_ the test?

"They'll most likely divide the bells among themselves," Neji finally broke the silence.

"Ah." Itachi agreed. "We should split up in that case." Because they would definitely _not_ work well together.

"Hn. I'll go after Genma." Neji disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Itachi didn't want to fight Sakura, because Sakura needed to be coddled and protected. She was just a great medic, but apparently subpar fighter. Still, this meant that Itachi had his meal ticket insured.

~*~

Genma whistled a little ditty to himself as Neji ran after his kage bunshin into eleven traps. Genma grinned. Neji wouldn't get out of those traps any time soon.

~*~

Sakura arched an eyebrow as her surroundings started to swim and distort. Itachi's opinion of her must be very low indeed if he thought such obvious genjutsu could trap her. "Kai!"

Itachi didn't think she would fall for something that simple, yet, with how worried his brother had been, he had to make sure he didn't go too far. Still, she had some skills to sense his hidden presence in the tree, as she looked up at him.

"Done already?" she asked sweetly. Too sweet and confident to be facing him.

He would just have to show her _why_ he revered as the Uchiha genius. His eyes bled red and he appeared in front of her, then the tomoe swirled into a certain shape in his eyes, trapping her. Of course, he wouldn't torture her, just merely disorient and frighten her a little bit (while not trying to think about Sasuke yelling at him for using Tsukuyomi).

~*~

Red skies as far as the eye could see, not that Sakura could see much of it, being bound to a cross in the middle of a black ocean, Itachi standing in front of her.

"So this is Tsukuyomi?" Sakura asked conversationally, trying not to think about the upcoming torture.

"It is a jutsu that traps the victim inside their mind for three days of torture," Itachi informed her.

Sakura blinked, she had only very sparse knowledge of Uchiha's forbidden jutsu, mostly through Sasuke and Kakashi, neither who achieved mangekyou. She had just believed Tsukuyomi to be a time-space based jutsu, but this was _inside her mind_.

Itachi wasn't sure if he liked her going from ill at ease to a small grin upon hearing his explanation.

Of course, he didn't have much time to think about it as he felt himself being slugged across the mental ocean.

~*~

Sakura blinked again, staring down at the crumpled Uchiha genius at her feet. _"He better think more of us next time!"_ Her inner self preened triumphantly.

~*~

Genma looked up with a slight smirk as Sakura appeared on a branch above him. "Did you take care of Neji-san?"

"'Course. Though I might have highlighted a potential weakness in our team; half of us are too arrogant to live."

"Tell me about it. Itachi-san used _genin_ genjutsu on me before he tried to use Tsukuyomi." Sakura tsked and shook her head.

They stood in silence for a while, mulling over recent developments.

"You know, I'm disappointed," Sakura started, "they're Konoha's geniuses, hell, I was warned repeatedly about their fighting prowess and they fell to a hungover special jounin and a medic chuunin on the first try."

"Not what you would expect." Genma shrugged. "But then again, neither of us are known for our battling skills. I trap and you heal. They just weren't prepared."

"Or willing to work together," Sakura darkly mumbled. "I'll take Neji-san this time, and you take Itachi, if he has woken up yet."

"Sure." Genma saluted and the two puffed out in clouds of smoke.

~*~

Itachi felt dizzy and nauseous when he woke up. A headache threatened to split open his skull and weakness held down his body as he struggled to his feet, only to have his vision waver and blur. He had never felt anything like it before and tentatively started to walk, not noticing that he was weaving between left and right. Suddenly the ground disappeared from underneath his feet.

Genma bowed his head and mourned Konoha's standards. There was a time when ninja who fell into unconcealed pitfalls were called idiots and not geniuses.

Itachi was starting to think that maybe, just maybe, he might have underestimated his opponents a little bit, before he rolled onto his hands and knees to empty his already empty stomach. Ugh, no more using Tsukuyomi until he figured out what happened.

~*~

Neji was surprised after he got his hair untangled from a particularly thorny bush turned hair-eating monster. One moment he was picking branches from his hair and the next he was flying backwards, hearing his collarbone crack from a punch and then feeling two trees break as they were in the way of his flight path.

He came to a stop at a third tree, staring up at the sky as his vision blackened. _I thought Uchiha would take care of Sakura?_

Sakura stared in at the fallen body in disbelief, still in her punching position. _He was supposed to dodge that!_ How the hell did she manage to knock him out in one go?! Why the hell didn't he use Byakugan to secure his location?!

Frustration bubbling up within her, and she stalked forward towards him.

~*~

"They're completely and utterly useless! It took me less than a minute to knock them out! Less than a minute for you to incapacitate them! I want to switch teams!" Neji groggily awoke, dimly registering that his collarbone was healed, he was propped against another person's back, who was also starting to move, and that Sakura was screaming somewhere nearby.

"There, there, Sakura-chan." Genma held up his hands in a placating position.

"No. I'm serious. Whatever the clans paid to have these two _idiots_ called geniuses, must have been an extremely large sum." Sakura shut up as she felt two auras of killing intent to her left. Turning, she saw Neji and Itachi, sitting back-to-back where she had dumped them. _"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea,"_ Inner Sakura mumbled. _Oh shush!_ Sakura answered, before returning to the matter at hand. "You disagree?"

Itachi and Neji struggled to their feet, still feeling the after effects of head and mental trauma. Still, they wouldn't just sit there and take her abuse.

Whatever promises they had made would now be broken.

Sakura blinked as Itachi disappeared, then she felt vines wrap around her and a kunai pressed to her throat.

"You were saying?" Itachi asked dangerously, his Sharingan turning on and off as he struggled over the migraine.

Sakura turned her head to glare at him. "Fuck you."

"Maybe later." Itachi smirked and his hand travelled down to her thigh before he grabbed the bell attached to her skirt.

Sakura flustered and fumed.

Meanwhile, Neji had trapped Genma in one of his trigrams, and while the older ninja was adept at dodging, Neji's many attacks ensured that he got the chance to snatch the bell attached to Genma's vest.

Neji straightened and glanced over at Itachi, slightly miffed that Itachi got his bell first, before addressing Sakura. "We win."

Sakura blinked, then smile, and with a giggle, she disappeared in a puff of smoke.

So did Genma.

And the bells.

Kage bunshin.

"YOU BOTH FAIL!"

**End.**


	9. Open Wide

**Trifecta**

_009._

Open Wide

"_I fail to see how this was a valid test!"_ Never before had Neji opened his mouth before he thought (okay, so he had, but it didn't count now), and never before had he regretted it so much (okay, so he had, but that didn't matter at the moment). Either way, here he was, stuck to a pole with possibly the itchiest ropes Sakura could find, hungry, while Itachi was allowed to savour a bento in front of him.

As if Neji needed another reason to hate the prodigious heir to the Uchiha clan.

In fact, he was so busy hating that he didn't notice that Itachi hadn't even unwrapped the store bought bento yet.

Itachi was still slightly green and not really wanting to eat his prize (which he won by, for once, not saying something offensive).

The other part of not eating was him trying to remember exactly what Sasuke said.

~*~

Outside the range of Byakugan, Sakura and Genma were watching their two charges through binoculars, eating octo-sausages that Sakura's mum had made (despite having moved out, Sakura had, as a rule, informed her mother of her new team, and of course her mother wanted her to have something to celebrate with).

"You know, they have more clues than we had and we still passed the test," Sakura said through her chewing.

Genma put down the binoculars and searched through the bento for an onigiri. "What clues?"

"Well, I called this a team building exercise _and_ made sure they woke up together after knocking them out, and then warning Itachi not to feed Neji."

"You are aware that the test was designed to fail everyone who took it?" Genma felt compelled to ask.

Sakura ignored his question. "By the way, what do you have against the bell test?"

"Except being the one Kakashi perfected it on?" Genma moodily replied as her remembered. "Not very much."

"You're older than him," Sakura pointed out. "You wouldn't have been his genin team."

"I graduated two years after him. He made jounin by then and lost his previous team. But my team wasn't his. No, he just needed some people to test the test on to make sure no one could pass it." Genma grumbled. "Then your team had to go and make him all sappy and pass you."

"Excuse us for being awesome," Sakura flippantly replied. Her voice then became excited. "Itachi moved!"

~*~

It was a gamble, Itachi knew, as Sakura had gone into excruciating detail as to what punishments there would be if Itachi fed Neji. Still, considering Sasuke's words, Sakura's actions and just the general situation (and that Itachi decided that he didn't want to eat after all), Itachi drew this conclusion. He tore open the wrappings of the bento, separated the chopsticks and went to stand in front of Neji.

"What are you doing?" Neji's suspicious voice cut through the silence.

"Feeding you." Itachi thought for a second, then he choose a dumpling. "Open wide."

"I'm _not_ letting you feed me!" Neji hissed. It was bad enough being a branch house member in the Hyuuga household, there was _no fucking way_ that he would let Uchiha's heir feed him like a child!

~*~

"Neji's being difficult." Sakura frowned. Of course, one of the reasons why her team passed was because Naruto would never turn down a meal when he was hungry, he didn't have issues with Sasuke from childhood and he actually liked Sakura.

"What did you expect? Arrogance is a form of pride, and it isn't prideful to be at the mercy of one's rivals and enemies," Genma answered.

~*~

Itachi just wanted to get rid of the food before the smell made him sick again. "It's the only way to pass the test now."

Neji glared at him. His ego had already taken many wounds and bruises, he didn't need anymore. "I'm not hungry."

"You're a horrible liar," Itachi countered. "Do you _want_ D-class missions for the next year?"

Neji seethed, weighing the pros and cons. He finally decided that he didn't want the D-missions, but he would be damned before he asked Itachi to feed him.

Fortunately for him, no matter how sick Itachi felt, Itachi was adept at reading people. He was also adept at kicking his pride on the head if it got him out of embarrassing situations. "Open up."

Even if they were in agreement that they _did not_ want this, it didn't stop them from feeling a deafening sense of humiliation.

~*~

Sakura frowned. Of course it had been embarrassing for her team, but not to the extent that Itachi and Neji clearly felt. She looked at Genma in askance.

"Break it up?" he asked, and she nodded.

They disappeared in puffs of smoke.

~*~

Itachi nearly jumped as Sakura appeared beside them. "Congratulations! You pass!"

Genma appeared behind Neji, freeing him from the ropes. "And now you get to go home."

They didn't need to be told twice, as both disappeared.

Sakura sighed. "That didn't go as planned, did it?"

"Depends on what you planned to do." Genma wasn't much help.

**End.**

That's it, I hate my family (or at the least, am very, very irritated with them). They keep interrupting me (speaking Swedish) when I try to write in English. I've already gone back and edited the previous chapter twice, and probably will have to edit this one as well, because they just can't shut up and let me proofread in peace.

There was a question as to Sasuke's little trip with Orochimaru. That question will be answered a bit further down the line. Lets just say that there's a reason why everyone goes "damn clan politics" all the time, as said clan politics aren't harmless all the time.

"Octo-sausages" is those sausages cut and decorated to look like cartoon octopus with four arms (Tetrapus? Quadripus?).


	10. Visitation Rights

**Trifecta**

_010._

Visitation Rights

It was morning, and a tired Sakura had just dragged herself out of bed. She had laid awake during the night, trying to figure out where she went wrong.

Okay, so she knew where it went wrong, she just now needed to figure out how to fix it. She yawned and put on the Coffee Maker 3000, a wonderful machine that had kept her going for many hard weeks in the hospital.

If she was honest, the root of the problem laid within the clans and their clan politics. The way they raised their children were deplorable at best, as evidenced in that Sasuke would rather run away with an alleged paedophile than stay in the clan until he became chuunin.

The moment he came back and was given the All Clear from ANBU, he immediately entered the Chuunin Exams and passed, which meant that even though he was still under their guardianship until he was eighteen, his clan elders could not interfere with his ninja life. Not that they didn't try.

Itachi, by virtue of being a genius, fared better. Okay, so his personality went from kind and warm (according to Sasuke, Sakura had her doubts) older brother to a sarcastic, unfeeling ass, but it wasn't unexpected with the amount of pressure his parents and elders were shoving onto him.

Then there was Neji, a branch house member in the Hyuuga clan, which so happened to be the clan which these stupid traditions originated from. Sakura winced, she didn't need to go into the many, many problems of that clan.

It was said that Uchiha Madara, the first Uchiha, was born in a branch family of the Hyuuga clan. Well, together with all the others born with Sharingan instead of Byakugan, he rebelled.

Now, one would think that he abolished those clan laws, except he didn't. All he desired was to be the ruler, which he became of the Uchiha clan. Then he ran into the Senju clan and they founded Konoha, and, believing that he would be Hokage, Madara invited Hyuuga in the belief that he would finally rule over them. Except that he was a bit mentally unstable and people sensed this, and opted for the Senju clan instead, which in turn caused Madara to rebel against Konoha.

Later, Madara would return, trying to convince Fugaku to join him, and he had certain success, except neither of Fugaku's sons played along. Itachi worked as a double-agent between Uchiha and Konoha, while Sasuke had enough of the pressure (and never measuring up to his brother) and ran off with Orochimaru, causing an investigation into Uchiha's clan practices, which in turn brought the would-be rebellion to light, which in turn put most of the Uchiha clan into village arrest until further notice.

And Madara? Was rumoured to have sought out Orochimaru instead, as just like Orochimaru, he gained a younger body soon after the Uchiha incident. Another thing pointing towards this, was that Orochimaru knew a suspiciously lot about Sharingan when he taught Sasuke.

Sakura poured the coffee into her favourite cup, her frown deepening. That was the root, the disease, but Sakura didn't have the ability to cure it, no, she would need to take care of the symptoms if she wanted an efficient team. It was all so frustrating!

**Ding dong!**

Sakura jumped as her doorbell rang. Putting down her cup on the counter, she hurried to answer it.

"Sakura-chan! I need help!" was the first thing the person on the other side of the door, Shion, said, before falling dramatically towards Sakura.

Sakura sidestepped and watched as Shion planted her face into the carpet. "What is it?"

"You're mean," Shion grumbled and got up. "Have you eaten breakfast yet?"

"I was about to when you came," Sakura answered. "You want coffee?"

"I'd rather have tea, but alright." Shion then produced a bag from the local bakery. "I have croissants!"

"Fine, I'll make some tea." Sakura went back into the kitchen, Shion following her.

As Sakura put on the kettle, Shion rummaged through her cupboards after a plate to put the croissants on.

**Ding dong!**

"To your left," Sakura said before she hurried back into the hall.

"Open, Forehead! I know you're there!"

Sakura grumbled and opened the door. "What is it, Pig?"

"I have cake!" Ino offered first. "Then we can sit down in your quaint (but un-stylish, seriously, hire a decorator before _I_ do it), little kitchen and gossip about your first training session with Konoha's most eligible bachelors!" As she talked, she wandered past Sakura towards the kitchen.

"Just let yourself in and feel at home," Sakura grumbled and closed the door. "Tea or coffee?"

"Neither, just some juice." Ino then entered the kitchen. "Shion! What are you doing here? Trying to steal _my_ best friend?"

"I wouldn't need to try to do that!"

Sakura sighed and wandered back into the kitchen, and to the fridge where she took out some orange juice, ignoring the quarrel.

**Ding dong!**

Putting down the juice carton beside the tea and coffee, Sakura once more hurried out into the hallway and opened the door.

"What did you do to Neji?" was the first thing Tenten said.

"We brought muffins," Hinata mumbled apologetically. "If you want any."

"Come inside." Sakura sighed. "Coffee, tea or juice?"

"Soda," Tenten answered as she entered.

"If you have any mineral water?" Hinata asked carefully.

"_I don't need beauty tips from a flat-chested pig!"_

"_At least I keep my weight, pudgy!"_

"Just come into the kitchen, and pray that they haven't started to throw things at one another," Sakura invited the apprehensive duo.

She then hurried to get their drinks.

**Ding dong!**

"This is getting ridiculous," Sakura said to herself as she hurried to answer the door again.

"I have umeboshi!" Sasuke presented the jar with trepidation, hoping that he hadn't waken her.

Sakura blinked, before accepting one of her favourite treats. "Thank you. Do you want anything?"

"What did you do to Itachi?"

"Come inside and I'll tell you," Sakura stepped aside, and Sasuke hesitated, hearing the many female voices within and flashing back to his fan club, still, his curiosity was greater than his fear.

Sakura then went after some lemonade, not even needing to ask him of his preferences.

**Ding dong!**

"Okay, now it's ridiculous." Sakura opened the door to reveal Sai.

He held up some dumplings. Sakura sighed and moved aside. "Coffee, tea, juice, soda, mineral water or lemonade?"

"Cocoa." Sai gave her his infernal smile before moving into the kitchen.

Sakura rolled her eyes. Her friends were all such fussy drinkers! She went to make the cocoa, noticing that the kitchen was starting to become cramped.

**Ding dong!**

"Hi! Sakura-chan! Guess what, I got some free ramen for helping the old man out!" Naruto presented his treasure to her.

Sakura simply motioned for him to go to the kitchen. "There's milk in the refrigerator."

She didn't even have time to follow him ("What are you all doing here!" Naruto exclaimed upon entering the kitchen).

**Ding dong!**

"Yo!" Kakashi didn't even bring a peace offering. "What's that smell?"

He moved past her, still with his nose in the book, sensing a free meal. Well at least she wouldn't have to accommodate his drinking tastes.

"You don't happen to have any cider?" She boggled at him. _Cider? In the morning?!_

**Ding dong!**

Almost ready to scream, she wretched the door open, only to find Genma standing outside. "Coffee, tea, juice, mineral water, lemonade, milk or cider, which will it be?"

He blinked at her. "Wasn't I supposed to show up at this time so that we figure something out?"

Sakura froze. Oh yeah. "Please come inside."

"But now that you mention it, I would like a milkshake."

~*~

After fights had been broken up (One between Shion and Ino, one between Naruto and Sai, one between Sai and Tenten, one between Shion and Sai and last, one between Sasuke and the jar's lid), beverages had been made (yes, all eight of them), biscuits and the offerings had been served (apparently, everyone overestimated Sakura's stomach capacity as there was a mountain of food to choose from, Sakura wasn't sure if she liked that), and everyone (all ten of them) had crammed around the four-person table, Sakura finally spoke.

"Why are you here?" Sakura asked Shion.

Shion shifted, she had hoped to be alone with Sakura, but then Pig had to come and ruin everything. She glanced at Hinata and Naruto. "I forgot."

"Right, and you?" Sakura continued with Ino.

Ino simply glared, there was no way they could gossip freely like this

"Okay, you two then?" Sakura continued with Hinata and Tenten.

"What did you do to Neji? He's being reclusive." Tenten noticed Naruto opening his mouth. "More so than usual."

"Can we take that when we get to Genma-senpai? He's here about the same thing."

Tenten nodded and Sakura continued. "Sasuke?"

"What did you do to Itachi? He's behaving like he has the world's worst hangover and wont come out of his room." Sasuke frowned, he had to "eat" his father's cooking again (which meant that he dumped it in the poor potted palm tree that auntie sent to their mother as a get-well gift, it was dead now). He then continued to eat the muffin he'd confiscated. Edible food!

"Same, wait for Genma-senpai's turn."

"Hanging out together develops friendship." Sai didn't need to be prompted. "It is also suggested to bring a gift if you drop by unannounced.

"Well, there's ramen!" Naruto was ecstatic. Not only did he get free ramen, but there was also muffins and friends to have all around. He was too happy to notice the discontented women at his sides.

Kakashi simply smiled as his umeboshi disappeared and he started to chew.

"Well, you told me to come!" Genma said defensively, red marks on his cheeks as he tried to avoid groping his neighbours (Ino and Shion). Man, the table was cramped!

"_You did what?!_" Ino screeched at Sakura.

"Are you completely out of your mind?" Shion asked.

"This is Shiranui 'Hentai' Genma!" Tenten exploded.

"I-It's just not a good idea," Hinata mumbled, squeaking and trying not to faint as Naruto leaned over her in search for muffins.

"Hey!" Genma sounded indignant.

"And you would have been alone too if we hadn't shown up!" Ino continued.

Naruto dropped his muffin. Kakashi put away his book. Sasuke choked. Sai was clueless.

"Do _not ever_ let Genma near you with bed within a mile's distance." Tenten grabbed Sakura's shoulders, looking her seriously into her eyes. "_Ever!_"

"Hey!" Genma protested feebly. "I don't _need_ a bed!"

Glares zoomed in on him.

Slowly, but surely, Sai started to get it. "Wait? You mean he would-? With the _hag_?"

Five seconds later, there was a Sai-shaped hole in the wall and Sakura was rubbing her temples, trying to stave off her headache as the argument gained momentum around her. _Damn them all!_

**End.**

I have drawn a cover illustration to this story. You can either check it from my profile or go here:

*caithyra.*deviantart.*com/*art/*FanFic-Cover-Trifecta-141419716

Paste into your web-browser and then remove the stars.


	11. Clan Compound

**Trifecta**

_011._

Clan Compound

Sakura tried to look inconspicuous as she strolled through the gates of the Hyuuga compound. This was hard as she was the only one with pink hair around, actually, the only one with hair lighter than black coffee around, and, you know, trying to go undetected in a place filled with Byakugan.

She had moderate success.

"Sakura-kun, what are you doing here so early in the morning?" Hyuuga Himawari asked, pausing her sweeping of the verandah.

"I'm just looking for Neji-san, you don't happen to know where he is?"

Himawari was about to answer when she caught herself. "Neji-kun? Not Hinata-sama?"

"Yes, Neji-san." Sakura frowned when a smile split Himawari's face.

~*~

"And you _will not_ pass on any disrespectful behaviour to my son. Understood?" Fugaku finished.

Genma bit back a retort. "Of course, Uchiha-san."

"Good. Wait here while I find him." There was no way that Fugaku would let Genma wander about in a Uchiha compound full of eligible young women.

~*~

Sakura was possibly scarred for life, as she had to (without being rude) dodge Himawari's veiled marriage interview. It hadn't been easy, and only by distracting her ("Talking about restaurants, did you hear about Ichiraku's waitress?") and then run for it.

She was now completely and hopelessly lost. Unfortunately, that was how Hiashi found her.

"Haruno-san," his crisp and proper voice cut through the air, "any particular reason why you are walking towards the men's hot springs?"

"_Why yes, I heard that Hyuuga men were delectable once they thawed,"_ Sakura's inner self snapped back. Fortunately, Sakura did not say it aloud. "Hiashi-san." Because she would be damned before she gave him the -sama honorific. "I seem to be lost. You couldn't point me in the direction of Neji-san?"

Hiashi seemed to think before deciding, and Sakura could almost feel him pick up on every resentful thought she ever thought about the Hyuuga clan. Finally, he started to walk. "Follow me."

It almost felt natural to fall into step behind him, and Sakura glowered at his back. He was too used to people following him.

"You don't approve of us?" Hiashi reminded her that yes, Byakugan was able to see everything around him.

Sakura almost flustered, but caught herself. "I haven't said anything like that."

"No you haven't." Was it her imagination, or did he sound heavy and tired all of a sudden?

They paused where the road split. "If you follow the left road, you'll find Neji's house."

_Oh_, Sakura started to walk down the other road, but after a second, she made up her mind. "Thank you."

Then she hurried down the road.

~*~

"Mikoto-san, you're spoiling me," Genma protested as she presented him with yet another plate of sweets.

"Just take it, Shiranui-san, there's plenty left," Mikoto said. It was true, after days in bed, she had itched to do something again, and that something manifested in making enough food and sweets to feed an army.

Fugaku stared (he had apparently forgotten that 'eligible' in Genma-language sometimes included married women), and Itachi peered over his shoulder in the doorway. It had only taken ten minutes to find and fetch Itachi, yet in those ten minutes, Genma had apparently wormed himself into Mikoto's good graces.

Finally fed up with his father's inability to move, Itachi slipped past and stole a dango from Genma's plate (to Genma's protests and Mikoto's smiling admonishments).

~*~

For a moment, Sakura wondered if the house was abandoned. Sure, it was in good condition and the lawn kept. But held no personality whatsoever. There were no wind chimes hanging around, there were no unique flowers in harden, just simply what everyone else had and it just looked very... uniform.

But when Neji stepped outside, she knew that it was the right house. "Neji-san!"

He looked up, and she might have imagined it, but a flash of... dislike, maybe, swept across his face before the blank mask returned. Sakura ignored it. "I was just fetching you so that we can go and get our first mission."

His eyes swept around.

"Genma-senpai is getting Itachi-san." She guessed correctly when his eyes returned to her.

He nodded. "I'll get my weapons."

Sakura smiled. "That wont be necessary."

He arched an eyebrow, but followed her without question as she tried to lead the way out. _Tried_ being the operative word. After the second wrong turn, Neji took the lead while Sakura laughed sheepishly. They then fell into silence.

Sakura glanced at Neji. _"You know, you could just ask." And he would just answer? "You wont know until you ask."_

"Wanna talk about it?"

Neji paused and looked back at her. "About what?"

Sakura looked at him, and he felt something cold settle inside his skin. No, he didn't want to talk about it.

Fortunately, they had reached the gates, and a tummy-aching Genma by then.

**End.**


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